Detective Comics No. 27, the issue that introduced Batman to the world, was dated May 1939.

The way comic books were distributed back then, that means the magazine probably first appeared in February or March of that year.

So why, then, has Batman’s publisher, DC Entertainment, chosen July 23 as the nexus of the character’s 75th anniversary year celebration?

“It’s the Wednesday opening of Comic-Con,” admits DC co-publisher Jim Lee. “It’s probably the biggest day for comic books in the country. Comic-Con is a national, yearly celebration of the artform and the characters, and there’s a lot of press coverage around it.”

The date wasn’t chosen solely to siphon publicity off the San Diego media monstrosity, though.

“You also have a lot of fans that can’t make it to San Diego,” Lee notes. “We really look at this as a way of bringing the excitement of Comic-Con to all these different comic shops, bookstores and libraries across the country by giving out all of these cool things from Batman paper masks to capes to special editions of Detective 27.

“It really allows fans from across the country to celebrate Comic-Con and Batman in one day,” Lee concludes.